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Does Amber Alert suspect have IEDs?

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A horseback rider reports sighting the pair in the central Idaho wilderness

Authorities set up checkpoints but order no evacuations yet

16-year-old Hannah Anderson has been missing since her mother was found dead

Family friend James DiMaggio is suspected of abducting her

In the middle of the Idaho wilderness, a man on horseback had a brief conversation with two campers. The rider's realization later that he may have been talking to California Amber Alert suspect James DiMaggio and his alleged teenage captive has now focused a nationwide manhunt for the pair on the rugged mountain area in central Idaho.

The horseback rider saw the man and girl Wednesday and struck up a brief conversation with them, Andrea Dearden, spokeswoman for the Ada County Sheriff's Office, said Friday.

He was not aware of the manhunt at the time, but he called the Amber Alert tip line after he saw a news account that night and realized the pair matched the description of DiMaggio and 16-year-old Hannah Anderson, she said.

The rider's impression of the pair was "it seemed odd but nothing as alarming," Dearden said.

"They did speak and exchange pleasantries. I don't think there was a lot of information exchanged," she said. "He left the conversation believing they were camping in the area."

The rider said the man and girl were on foot, hiking with camping gear, Dearden said.

Dearden appeared to be correcting authorities' earlier reports that the suspect and girl were spotted by more than one horseback rider.

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Searching for Hannah and Ethan

Still missing: Michaela Joy Garecht – Witnesses saw a man grab 9-year-old Michaela Joy Garecht outside a store near her home near Oakland, California, in November 1988. Here, Michaela is seen in a childhood photo next to an image of what she might look like today. If you have seen Michaela or any of the faces in this gallery, please contact your local FBI office or call 1-800-THE-LOST.

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The faces of some of America's missing14 photos

Still missing: Ashley Summers – The discovery of the three young women missing for a decade in Cleveland immediately raised hopes for Ashley Summers, who went missing in July 2007 at age 14 within blocks of the other three. Here, she is shown next to an age-progressed rendering of her on the right.

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The faces of some of America's missing14 photos

Still missing: Christina Adkins – Christina Adkins was last seen in Cleveland in January 1995. She was 18 years old and five months pregnant when she disappeared.

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The faces of some of America's missing14 photos

Still missing: Jessica Heeringa – Jessica Heeringa, 25, was abducted in April from an Exxon station in Norton Shores, Michigan, where she was working alone, sometime around 11 p.m., police said. Police have released a sketch of the suspect, described as a white male, about 6 feet tall, between 30 and 40 years old, with wavy hair parted in the middle.

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The faces of some of America's missing14 photos

Still missing: Madeleine McCann – Madeleine McCann was a few days shy of her 4th birthday when she disappeared during a 2007 family vacation in Portugal. Despite a huge police investigation and massive media coverage, she remains missing.

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The faces of some of America's missing14 photos

Still missing: Haleigh Cummings – Haleigh Cummings, 5, was reported missing from her family's home in Satsuma, Florida, in February 2009. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children released the age-progressed photo to show what she might look like at age 8.

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The faces of some of America's missing14 photos

Still missing: Amir Jennings – Eighteen-month-old Amir Jennings was last seen with his mother in Columbia, South Carolina, in November 2011. Both were reported missing by a family member in early December 2011. Amir's mother was located a few weeks later after she was involved in a car accident. Amir was not in the car. Amir's mother has been convicted of being involved in the toddler's disappearance, but the boy has yet to be found.

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The faces of some of America's missing14 photos

Still missing: Morgan Nick – Six-year-old Morgan Nick went missing in June 1995 after playing with other children after a Little League game in Alma, Arkansas. Police believe Morgan was abducted by a stranger.

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The faces of some of America's missing14 photos

Still missing: Kara Kopetsky – When high school junior Kara Kopetsky didn't come home from school one day in May 2007, her parents filed a missing person report. Police in Belton, Missouri, told them they believed she was a runaway and would return in a few days. Shortly before she vanished, she told her parents her former boyfriend was stalking her.

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The faces of some of America's missing14 photos

Still missing: Kyron Horman – Seven-year-old Kyron Horman was last seen in June 2010 at his Portland, Oregon, elementary school after attending a science fair. While there has been intense speculation surrounding the boy's stepmother, who told police she dropped him off, no charges have been filed in the case and no one has officially been named a suspect.

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The faces of some of America's missing14 photos

Still missing: Lisa Irwin – Lisa Irwin's father arrived at their Kansas City home from work to find the door unlocked, the lights on and a window tampered with. Lisa's mother said she last saw the 11-month-old the evening before. Dozens of investigators, including police and FBI personnel, have conducted numerous searches for the missing girl but have come up empty.

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The faces of some of America's missing14 photos

Still missing: Isabel Celis – Six-year-old Isabel Celis's parents reported her missing in April 2012, telling Tucson, Arizona, police that she vanished from her room in the middle of the night. There are no suspects in her disappearance.

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The faces of some of America's missing14 photos

Still missing: Jacob Wetterling – Jacob Wetterling was abducted at gunpoint in October 1989 at age 11 near his home in St. Joseph, Minnesota, near St. Cloud. His mother, holding a photo of her son, remains hopeful that he will be found alive.

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The faces of some of America's missing14 photos

Still missing: Christopher Abeyta – Christopher Abeyta was only 7 months old when he was taken from his crib in 1986. This year, his family announced a $100,000 reward for help in finding Christopher, who would be 27 today and may look like the image rendering on the right.

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EXPAND GALLERY

Investigators set up checkpoints where DiMaggio and Hannah were believed to be traveling in the River of No Return Wilderness area, about 15 miles outside Cascade, Dearden said.

The horseback rider's tip moved the national manhunt for DiMaggio and Hannah, who was last seen Saturday afternoon at her cheerleading practice, to the Idaho mountains.

Authorities in Southern California began looking for Hannah after their mother was found dead inside DiMaggio's burned-out house in the San Diego area Sunday. Late Friday, authorities said lab tests confirmed that a second body found in the house was that of Hannah's 8-year-old brother, Ethan.

DiMaggio was a close friend of the Anderson family, and father Brett Anderson has appealed to DiMaggio to let his daughter go.

Friday morning, investigators found DiMaggio's car hidden by brush, its license plates removed, about six to eight miles from where the rider spotted the girl, authorities said. They confirmed the car's ownership by its vehicle identification number, he said.

The vehicle will be examined by bomb and arson technicians to ensure it's not rigged with explosives, Gore added. His office has said evidence found at the burned house indicates that explosives may be in the car.

The horseback rider said the man and girl appeared to be in good health, Gore said.

Suspect 'capable of anything'

Authorities deem DiMaggio a dangerous suspect because he is accused of killing Hannah's mother, Christina Anderson, and possibly Ethan as well.

The second body is so badly burned that carrying out a DNA test is proving difficult, authorities said. The sheriff's office is treating Ethan as a missing person until they can identify the body.

A search of DiMaggio's burned-down house led law enforcement to this conclusion: "We don't hold anything past this person," as one official put it.

"We think that he's capable of anything at this point," said Capt. Duncan Fraser of the San Diego Sheriff's Office.

Based on what the sheriff's investigators have seen, there is evidence that the fire and kidnapping of Hannah was a "very well-planned event," Fraser said.

Idaho on Friday became the latest state to issue an Amber Alert for Hannah, following California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada.

The San Diego Sheriff's Department already said it was possible DiMaggio was hunkered down in a rural area because he is a camper.

"We've got law enforcement agencies across the country looking for them and following up on tips that are being called in," San Diego County Sheriff's Department Lt. Glenn Giannantonio told CNN on Thursday. "We've received numerous tips, I'd say probably well over 100, possibly hundreds of tips from across the country. Every tip that can be followed up on has been followed up on or is currently being followed up on."

Suspect is family friend

DiMaggio was described as being so close to the Andersons that he was considered part of the family, Brett Anderson told CNN's Chris Cuomo on Thursday. He came into their lives before Hannah was born.

DiMaggio was such good friends with the family that Anderson said he can't reconcile the man he knows with the crimes he is suspected of.

"I have been through every scenario in my brain," Anderson said. "There was nothing ever to show any indication of this."

DiMaggio joined the family on campouts and was always friendly toward them, he said.

"I can't fathom what happened in Jim's head. He obviously just lost it," Anderson said.

"You've taken everything," the father pleaded to DiMaggio in the interview. "The damage is done. Just let my daughter go, Let her go home safe, let her be with me and try to mend things from there."

Some witnesses have told investigators that DiMaggio had a crush on Hannah, but Brett Anderson has said the family had no knowledge of that.

Fraser said that they are looking into whether the suspect possibly had an "undue infatuation" with the teen.